Shop tractor



Sept. 3, 1929. a. sTocKFLETH ET AL 1,726,996

SHOP TRACTOR Filed April 29. 1926 az um,

Patented Sept. 3, 1929i.

Unirse g g 1,726,996 `PA'FENT OFFICE.

BERGER STOCKFLETI-I, OFBERRIEN SPRINGS, AND FREDERIGK-W. BURGER, 0F NILES,

" .fMlCHIGANy-.ASSIGNORS TO. CLARKTRUCTRAGTOLR COMEANY, 0F BUCHANAN, MICH- IGAN, A GORPORA'IION- OF-.MICHIG;AN.

. SHOP *.TRAGTOR.

y"Our invention relates yto shop tractors` of the typeshown and described in Letters ikPatent ofI Robert J.` Burrows, No. 1,390,757, .datedSeptenlber 13, 1921, Comprising Aa frame supported vat the-"front vvon propelling wheels and iatthe rear Aon a steering wheel of) the vcaster type, Vthe `loadl carryingplatform or bed being at thefro'nt over the'pro- "pelling' ,wheels-@while 'the `motor by which such" wheels Yare 'driven is `atthe rear, the drivers seata'nd thev steering post being 'located -between vthe load carryingplatform `andthe motor. Y Insuch shop tractors it is desirablethat theVv wheel base be asshort as possible so that thev vehicle `can nlakeisharp turns and., be maneuver'ed'I `through narrow and morev or less tortuous aisles, and, therefore, it is n ecessary that` space-be economized toi the greatest possible extent. To* that 'end in the tractor shown and described in said Burrows patent the operators seat was placed upon the hood enclosingthei motor, but that ar'- range'ment'is' objectionable for variousreasons, and. besides it is not one that lends itself Vtothe accommodation k'of two persons, and frequently it is desirablethat a helper accompany the operator and that a seat. be providedifor him. j ,n

I4The principa'l'object of our present invention is to provide an improved construction by .which the objections to'placing the oper- `ators seat onv the hood willbe avoid'edwithout` sacriicing'economy 'of space, and also to make `provision by which when .desiredtwo seats may be provided. lAnother object is to so construct the seat support that' the seat or vseats may readily be removed or replaced,

and the seat support itself will serve as a dash board for supporting one end ofthe hood and such instruments as may berequired, vand also as a floor board or `covering for a part ofthe motor frame, Ithereby vsimplifying the construction and? at ythe Esame time providing avery strong andstable rsupport fortheseat or seats that does not materially reduce the space allowed for the operators station. "These objects we accomplish as illustrated in' the drawings `and hereinafter described. What Vwe regard as new is set forth in the claims.

In thenaccompanying drawing`s,-

Fig. l is a side" elevation of the rear por'- 192e.` serial No. 105,446.

the side members of the frame ofthe tractor,

'which are preferably channel bars, asshown Fig. 2. vAt the rear of said frame is a caster wheel 6 mounted ina yoke 7 swiveled ,toturn about a vertical aXisfin a housing 8 mounted on'the frame, said caster wheel being connected by a steeringfrod 9 with a crank 10 carried by a transversefshaft 11.10- cated approximately midway of the length of the frame and arranged to be rocked by any suitable connections' by rotation of a hand steering wheel 12 mounted at the upper end of a steering post 13 rising from one ofthe iioor boards 14. The steering post l'islocated between the load carrying means, such as a platform or bed (notvshown) at the front of the tractor, and the motor, which is enclosed in a hood 15, the motor being mounted on the rear portion ofithe frame. At' the rear endof the hoodv15 is a radiator '16, and at the ,frontend 'of lsaid hood is, a

Athe forward margin f of the hood.

The vdash board .17 is in the form of Aan L-shaped casting, the upright portion of which forms the dash board proper while the base ,19 thereof extends' forward from n .ally beyond'the side' members 4, 5 of the frame. At oneside the dashboardis provided with an integral bracket 21the upper tportion of 'which isin the sform of apocket 22 open `atitsufpperlend to receivethe lower ,endiof a seaty spring, lfthe. arrangement being such that said seat spring projects laterally beyond one of the side margins of the dash board. Adjacent to the other side margin of the dash board, but located inside of such margin, is another bracket 23 similar to the bracket 21, and provided with a pocket 24 adapted to receive the lower end of a seat spring 25. The two seat springs are alike in design, and they are each preferably composed of two spring members 26, 27 connected at their lower ends by a bolt 28, their upper ends being curved forward and then rearwardly, as shown in Fig. 1, with the member 27 extending beyond the upper end of the member 26, as shown at 29 in Fig. 1. The portion 29 extends fore and aft in an approximately horizontal plane and carries a seat 30 secured thereto by a bolt 31, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Preferably the bolt passes through a longitudinal slot inthe portion 29 so that the seat may be adjusted fore and aft. The arrangement is such that the seat is supported high enough above the hood so that bouncing will not cause the operator to strike the hood. One of the seats is, of course, arranged back of the steering post 13 so that its o'ccupant can conveniently steer the tractor.

By the construction described we provide a dash board, or instrument board, which not only forms a closure for one end of the hood as is customary, but also serves as a fioor board, and as a seat support adapted to carry one or more seat springs in such manner that` the space between the motor and the load carrying bed or box may be made quite narrow, with consequent reduction in the length of wheel base necessary, without cramping the occupants of the seats or interfering with the operation of the clutch and other levers such as are usually provided. The operator has plenty ofleg room, owing to his being seated at a point over the hood, and to the fact that the seat springs are so located as to be out of the way. The

'seats are held high enough above the hood so that its sides can be lifted for casual inspection of the motor without removing the seats, but they can be removed easily when necessary. The horizontal portion 19 of the plate 17 not only serves as a floor board, asi above stated, but also provides a very secure connection for said plate with the frame, by which it is held in its proper position notwithstanding the strains to which it is subjected on account of the weight of .those `occupying the seats. y v Y What we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a shop tractor, the combination of a frame supported on propelling and steering wheels, a motor mounted on the rear secured to the frame, a pocket carried at the front face of said dash board and open at its upper end, a seat spring fitting at its lower end in said pocket, the upper end of said spring extending upwardly in front of the dashboard and rearwardly over the hood, a seat mounted on said spring over and spaced from the hood, means adjacent to said seat for steering the truck, and load carrying means mounted on the forward portion of said frame.

2. In a shop tractor, the combination of a frame supported on propelling and steering wheels, a motor mounted on the rear portion of said frame, a hood enclosing said motor, a dash board at the forward end of said hood and secured to the frame, a plurality of pockets at the front face of. said dash board adjacent to its opposite side margins, said pockets being open at their upper ends to receive the lower ends of vertically extending seat carrying springs, the upperend portions of said springs extending rearwardly of the dash board, means at the front of the dash board operable to steer the tru-ck, and load carrying means mounted on the front portion of said frame.

v3. In a shop tractor, the combination of a frame supported on propelling and steering wheels, a motor mounted on the rear portion of said frame, a hood enclosing said motor, an L-shaped dash board compris` ing vertical and horizontal portions, the horizontal portion thereof being adapted to be secured to the frame, and the vertical portion thereof forming a support for the front end of the hood, a pocket at the front face of the dash board, said pocket kbeing open at'its upper end, a seat carrying spring fitted at its lower end in said pocket and extending upwardly in front of the dash board and rearwardly over the hood, a seat supported by said spring over and spaced from the hood, means in front of the dash board operable to steer the truck, and load carrying means mounted on the front p0rtion of said frame.

4. Ina shop tractor, the combination of a framesupported on propelling andy steering wheels, a motor mounted on the rear portion of said frame, a hood enclosing said motor, an L-shaped dashy board comprising vertical and horizontal portions, the hori-` zontal portion thereof being adaptedto be secured to the frame and extending out beyond the side margins thereof, the yvertical portion of said dash board forming a support for the front end of the hood, pockets at the front of said dash board, one of said pockets extending laterally beyond a side margin thereof and connected with the horizontal portion thereof, said pockets being adapted to receive the lower ends of seat carrying springs, means in front of the dash board operable to Steer the truck, and load carrying means mounted on the front portion of the truck.

5. In a Shop tractor, the combination of a frame supported on propelling and steering wheels, a motor mounted on the rear portion of said frame, a hood enclosing said motor, a dash board at the forward end of said hood and secured to the frame, a seat supporting spring mounted at its lower end on the dash board and extending upwardly in front thereof and rearwardly over the hood, a seat supported by said spring` above and spaced from the hood so that said seat does not interfere with the opening or raising of said hood, means adjacent to said Seat for steering` the truck, and load carrying means mounted on the forward portion of said frame.

BERGER STOCKFLETH. FREDERICK WV. BURGER. 

